Run
by BehindTheRainbow
Summary: Running had made him survive. Surviving was keeping her from running her best. Until they began to run together.
1. Chapter 1

Daryl looks behind his shoulder. The guy behind him is kind of close, but he's feeling strong.

His teeth clench, heart pounding hard, legs burning and indicating he's almost at maximum effort level, but he keeps going.

He remembers the house in flames. Jack placing a hand on his shoulder, probably for the first ever.

"Stupid mama of yers, fell asleep with a lighted cigarette on her damn hand. Ya know how much this is gonna cost?"

He remembers knowing, even as a 6 year old, that it was bullshit.

So he ran.

Remembers reaching a pond they'd used to go with her mama, where she'd told him that story of them Cherokee roses. Remembers being so confused but knowing one thing: that she wouldn't be there anymore; that he was, from then on, all alone. Remembers his eyes feeling watery, but still not allowing the tears to come because he'd always been told... hell, even shown, that he wasn't allowed to do that.

So he ran. He ran until his lungs burned.

16 years after that, running was still that one thing that saved him.

Half a mile to go. He's managed to distance himself a few more yards from the runner behind him, but it's starting to hurt, the ground feeling slippery at times since it is a cross country race. His upper body begins to feel stiff from the effort. He knows it's only little over 2 minutes left but time passes more slowly at this stage, because, well… both in races and in life time isn't just a linear thing.

He narrows his eyes as he remembers that time when running finally led him to freedom, with 16 years old. Fuck it'd hurt to run in such condition: Jack had beaten him so badly Daryl swears his old man had even been thought he might have fucking killed him. There hadn't been an apparent reason other than Jack accusing him of having drunk the beers he'd left on the fridge; beers Jack had drunk the night before with Merle, but of course, he'd been too drunk to remember that and he needed an excuse to beat him anyway. That time, though, Daryl fought back, and that drove Jack so insanely angry he'd just smashed a glass bottle over his head. He'd woken up in the kitchen, his body sore, head aching so badly it blurred his vision, goddamn blood everywhere. In an automatic motion he just walked around the house picking up whatever he thought could be useful: the money he'd saved, the few clothes he owned, the only picture of his ma he had; and just opened the door and ran. In the cold Georgia winter, he ran for more than 2 hours straight, determined not to get back to that place, not to see Jack again, ever. And he hadn't since then.

Every day he's thankful he took that decision that day, even when life had been anything but easy from that day on. Hell, it'd been so hard at times he'd been close to going back more than once, because at first, change could be even harder than staying in a shitty comfort zone.

Until 18, he stayed in a group home. Had not been a goddamn palace, but it hadn't been so bad either: had provided him of shelter and food and that was much more than Daryl could have asked for or had been used to anyway. And it'd allowed him to go to high school, where a day just like any other he'd found the track and the fact that he seemed to be good at it. The usually boring gym class had taken place in the track that day, where they'd had to do sprints from 100 to 400 meters. Without even trying hard he'd placed amazing times at the four distances, finishing right behind the actual athletes, and from then on, everything had been kind of surreal: the coaches had convinced him to begin to train consistently, and less than a month after he became part of the high school team. By the end of that year, he'd crushed absolutely every personal best at pretty much all distances, and with that came a whole bunch of colleges showing interest in having him. _Colleges_; and even some sort of popularity he hadn't really embraced because he'd always been just too damn shy and awkward and had definitely avoided any kind of attention.

If anyone would have told him five years ago he might eventually go to college, he'd have burst out laughing. Dixons didn't even finish high school. But today and for the last 3 years he'd been an athlete for the University of Georgia, and he had a full scholarship to study Wildlife Biology there.

And above all things, running was something he simply couldn't stop doing, because every time he ran it felt like he was getting further away from him. From Jack. And he sure as hell wanted to get as far as he could from his old man, from the person Daryl himself might be today had he never left that day.

He can see the finish line now, and that's always a boost of energy as long as that energy hasn't all been consumed down the road. He sprints, eyes narrowed and focus only on getting closer, and soon enough he can spot familiar faces cheering and waiting to see who'd be the first to cross that finish line. Once more, it would be him.

"Can you be anymore awesome?", Tara yells as she runs towards him and hugs him so tight it has him almost losing his balance.

"Whoa, easy Tar, I'm a goddamn mess right now", Daryl manages to say as he hugs her lightly since he's covered in sweat, although she doesn't seem to care. She hands him a bottle of water, which he takes gladly, and squeezes his cheeks.

"You're gorgeous, especially when you're covered in sweat and mud", she tells him as she squeezes his cheeks amusingly, and he just rolls his eyes. She lets go and he brings his hands to his knees to catch his breath, immediately chugging the whole content of the bottle afterwards.

And then comes the part he doesn't really enjoy: the hugs, the pats on the shoulder and hand shaking, the congratulations and even the goddamn media asking him about his impressions of the race. He does appreciate the affection but he just doesn't know how to deal with the attention, which is unfortunately part of the package. He's grateful that his coach, Hershel, understands and even likes that about him. Hershel is already retired, but he still comes to every training and his wisdom and experience are the perfect complement to the enthusiasm and energy of his son-in-law, Glenn, who's officially the athletic team coach.

"Great job, son", Hershel says, bringing both hands to his shoulder. "You have it in you, you just never cease to amaze me", he tells Daryl as he looks at him with that strong yet tender gaze.

"Thank you coach; been a good race, I guess, was feeling good from the beginning", Daryl mumbles, eyes fixed on the ground as usual.

Hershel chuckles knowingly. "It was outstanding; we just have to make sure you convince yourself of that. Meanwhile, well, you very well deserve a beer now", he says, patting his shoulder as he walks away.

Daryl figures he does deserve a beer, and as his eyes scan the crowd looking for Tara, Rick or Michonne, he's surprised when he spots a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him briefly. Eyes that contrast with the very pale skin of a girl he's sure he hadn't seen before. He might have stared for a little long because she smiles lightly and raises her thumb. In lack of better ideas, he finds himself raising his thumb back as well, and since he feels this has somewhat turned awkward, he just averts her eyes and continues walking in the search of his friends.


	2. Chapter 2

Carol hadn't been this nervous in a long time. She enjoyed meeting new people but she knows this isn't only about that, but also about fitting in in a very competitive environment. In the track, they wouldn't only care about her being easy going, which she was most of the time; they'd also look at how fast she was.

And she was pretty fast, actually; just not among the fastest, especially for this athletic team which, according to what she saw yesterday, was pretty impressive. She's always stood out among amateur runners, but just been pretty average among female athletes. Either way her times have been enough for her to get a partial scholarship which among all the good things it entailed, the one she liked the most was that it was pretty far from her old town home.

Which also has her thinking of all her other problems.

She sees a group of people already gathered by the track, including Daryl, about whom she'd of course heard before, since for a while he's been popular even at the national level. She had never seen him, though, and when she finally met him the day before, and watched him be the first to cross the finish line, it came into her mind how he just looked like the perfect college guy; all successful and so good looking it was almost intimidating. Blush creeps to her cheeks as she remembers him catching her staring, but she pushes the thought away deciding this is not the best thing to think about being so nervous already. Not that Daryl Dixon strikes her as the type to being unused to women staring at him anyway.

She approaches the center of the track slowly and is greeted with a few waves and smiles on her way. Glenn Rhee, their coach, spots her and motions with his hand for her to join them, the gesture making the rest of the people turn around and acknowledge her presence.

"Hi, everyone", she says softly, smiling as a general greeting follows.

"Alright, folks; so, before we start… this here is Carol Hudson. She just joined our school with an impressive partial athletic scholarship and with an even more impressive personal best of 39.14 in 10k!", Glenn says excitingly as he claps his hands, which has everyone clapping as well.

"Oh, that was… it was more than a year ago", Carol says, flicking her hand in dismissal and feeling that annoying blush creep over her cheeks again.

"More than a year ago, you say? Even better, we'll make sure to break it this coming year", Glenn replies with a wink, which has her grinning.

"Hey there, I'm Andrea", the girl standing next to her says as she shakes her hand. "Welcome, and I'm sure you'll be great here… that's an awesome personal best you've got there!"

"Oh, it's… you know, it's good but I've been kind of getting slower since then", Carol tells her sincerely, and it feels nice to have someone to stick with especially on her first training day.

Andrea snorts. "Pfft, you're just being modest, which is nice of you. Hey, maybe we can train together today? I ain't nearly as far myself, but I always appreciate a challenge", she adds with a grin.

"I'd love that, I've kind of been… by myself since I got here", Carol replies, and as they get ready to start jogging she looks around and again spots Daryl Dixon, stretching his quadriceps and looking right back at her.

Carol bits her lip, unsure about what to do since they hadn't really been introduced to the other, but then he just nods in her direction before turning around and starting to jog.  
_

Daryl walks back home, arms crossed against his chest as he rubs them with his hands, since it's gotten chilly and he's only wearing a tank top, as usual. He thinks about jogging, just to warm up, but he's had a double shift that day and it's certainly been more than enough. He has a long night ahead since he has to catch up with study, and can only hope Tara's in the apartment and has decided to cook something warm and comforting, but doesn't really think it's happening. He chuckles at the thought. His best friend is good at a whole damn bunch of things but cooking isn't on the top list really, and in their old-couple marriage as they jokingly call it, he's usually the one who provides the meals.

His mind drifts to the early morning training and then to the new girl, who he knows now is named Carol. He'd wondered who she was when he'd first spotted her after the race, and even in his exhaustion he'd instantly thought she was pretty, an adjective that rarely pops into his mind when it comes to women. Surprisingly she'd turned out to be an athlete also; a pretty good one, even, and now he kind of feels he'd like to know more about her even when he's likely not doing anything to accomplish that.

He's distracted by the sound of a car engine before he actually spots a car right next to his apartment building, stifled sounds of rather loud voices coming from inside. He frowns: there's something odd about this and he decides to stay right next to the door for a few minutes, since the bushes that separate his apartment building from the next keep him from being seen.

"You ain't getting out, you hear me?! After all I did, that's how you pay me back? Damn you woman", a male voice raised in anger says.

Daryl hears the words clearly, since the voice had pretty much turned into yelling at this point. His fists clench automatically, all that yelling bringing back unconscious, instant body reactions from the times that kind of yelling had been directed to him.

"I'm sorry, okay? Damnit, I said I'm sorry, just don't go like that!", the male voice yells again.

He now hears the sound of someone getting out of the car, and he nervously fumbles to get his door open as silently as he can, but he doesn't get inside just yet.

"Fine, you go ahead and be a bitch about it! Fuck you, I'm outta here!", the man yells again, even louder this time. Daryl clenches his teeth and it takes everything not to approach him and interfere. Jesus, it'd take him only 5 damn minutes, but he knows how that can be for worse. Finally, _he listens _to the _car accelerate_ away, and the sound of the motor gradually disappears into the stillness of the night.

He hears footsteps that indicate him whoever this asshole has been yelling to is now probably heading inside the apartment building next door, and he just cannot help it, feels he has to make sure the woman -because it's pretty clear to him it's a woman at this point - is alright.

"You okay?", he asks softly.

Daryl has a great sense of hearing from when he used to hunt, probably the only good thing his old man had taught him. He even hears the sharp breath, and he mentally apologizes for having scared the shit out of her. Again.

"Sorry, ain't mean to scare you, I just… huh, I live here and couldn't help hearing all that sh… and I… just wanted to make sure you're okay", he speaks quickly; regrets he'd involuntarily witnessed all that.

"I'm fine", a soft voice says from the other side of the bushes. "I'm sorry", the woman adds, clearing her throat. "Sorry you had to hear all that".

Daryl snorts ironically. "Well I'm sorry _you _had to hear it", he says simply.

And then he hears the footsteps going in the opposite direction and he realizes she's walking towards him. He swallows hard, isn't sure he wants to put a face to the person who's been so horribly yelled at.

His eyes go wide when he finally sees her, and he has to keep his jaw from dropping. Turns out the woman is Carol, turns our they are neighbors, apparently… and by her horrified look, she sure as hell hadn't expected him to be the one she'd been talking to, either.

Holy crap. Had he just thought he wanted to know more about her? Well, _univers_e_, _this wasn't exactly what he meant by that.


	3. Chapter 3

Carol feels mortified.

Among all the people, it had to be Daryl Dixon, the goddamn leader of the athletic team.

The popular guy who'd very likely tell the whole school about it.

A person she hadn't even been introduced to, and who now happens to know that one thing about her life that embarrasses her the most when it happens. That one thing that she'd been trying to keep to herself; and that no one, ever, would imagine could happen to a nice girl like her. She chuckles. They know nothing.

"Fuck", she hears him say, but doesn't manage to look up at him. Isn't sure what's that supposed to mean, but she guesses it's just some sort of acknowledgment of the crappy situation.

"I'm sorry", she says, unable to look up at him. She has no idea what else to say, because that's exactly how she feels: she's sorry he had to hear that, sorry he now knew a whole lot about her maybe without even knowing her name; sorry her fiancé turned crazy from time to time and seemed to always find a reason to just yell at her and be mean lately… and honestly? She's also sorry she can't actually end it for now, and hates being the kind of woman she'd have felt sorry for herself.

She swallows hard and manages to lift her eyes up, watches as he squeezes his chin with his fingers thoughtfully. Seconds go by without him talking and she almost wants to ask him to say something,

"Why ya keep apologizing? It ain't none of my business, and I'm good, you ain't done nothing to me", he points out, teeth gripping his bottom lip. She can tell he's the fidgety type, no wonder how he's so fast; she thinks. "But, ya know, that didn't sound nice… ya okay?"

For the first time that night, she smiles slightly, letting out a deep breath. There's some sort of understanding in his eyes and his tone of voice and expressions are different than she'd thought they'd be. He looks truly concerned.

"I… I'm fine, I mean. It's complicated", she mumbles, her lips narrowing to a thin line because she knows it's kind of a shitty, unconvincing answer.

"Usually is", Daryl says simply.

"I… I mean, this hardly ever happens but, he's… he's got a temper, and sometimes he just loses his nerve for a minute", she explains then, very aware of how that isn't so convincing either.

"Mhhmm", Daryl hums. "I hear ya". His eyes instantly travel to her wrist, the marks of his fist still visible on her skin. She notices, instantly covers it with her other hand and she shifts on her feet uncomfortably. She had been able to control it, but now she feels she's seconds away of bursting out crying. Her wrist actually hurts and she doesn't think she's ever been so humiliated, but the only thing stopping those tears from coming is that she doesn't want to feel even more exposed in front of someone she barely knows. 

"I need to ask you something". Her facial flushing is way beyond evident at this point but she just has to. "I need to ask you to keep this to yourself".

Daryl frowns, narrowing his eyes. "Jesus, ya really think I'd just go and tell everyone? Like I said, this ain't none of my business, none anyone else's business, either". He sounds annoyed, got reasons to maybe. He steps backwards, seemingly ready to get inside but then stops for some reason.

"I'm sorry, I just… I don't know you", Carol states simply.

"F' course I ain't tellin' anyone, I ain't like that", Daryl says with a snort, shaking his head to express, again, his disapproval about that question. "I'll ask _you_ somethin' though. You gotta let me know, if this happens again. Or just, anything you might need, just huh, just let me know".

His eyes are fixed on hers, his head tilted and he's chewing his thumb as he waits for her answer, and if she'd first thought he was good looking now she's certain that's a complete underestimation. But it's the words that strike her, have her wondering why he seems to be so invested in this, even when maybe he's just trying to be nice.

"Why?" she finds herself asking.

He contemplates her for a few seconds, but does step inside this time, glancing at her once more before narrowing the door.

"Because", he murmurs. "Good night".

Carol is left just standing there, her lips trembling as she allows the tears to come.

She's overwhelmed with feelings of all sorts. But among all things, she simply feels _lonely. _Wishes she had someone close just to hug and mostly, to talk to, to try and see if saying it all aloud made it all just a little less confusing, a little more bearable.

She inhales deeply and decides that, for starters, she'd get the hell away from Daryl's apartment building porch. She'd go to her room, avoid jumping into bed at all costs, and maybe do something useful with herself. Jesus. When was it that she'd started to sound just like Ed? She couldn't allow that, couldn't allow his words to mess with her head. But then again, of all the things he'd been telling her lately, there was one in particular that she knew was true: she did owe him that much, him and his family. And until… until she figured out how to pay that goddamn debt, take care of herself and her issues on her own, she couldn't just step away. Problem was, that turned her into someone she actually hated to be; and she didn't know, to be honest, if she still considered herself to be a good person. But sometimes… sometimes it just didn't matter when there was a good deal more into play, didn't matter when this wasn't only about her.

As she walks back home, she decides to look at the bright side: she's always wanted to go to college and now she's there, at a great school, starting her major in Public Health with a partial scholarship which might turn into full if only she got a little faster. She gets to be far from her old town, which basically means far from Ed… and all things considered, that's the best news she's had in a while, even when their encounters are becoming harsher each time because, he says, he doesn't handle the distance well.

Bright side, she tells herself as she opens her apartment door.

She thinks about the track; about the other athletes, who seem nice enough… thinks she might even become friends with them eventually. She thinks about Daryl and how she might have misjudged him, how he seems like a nice guy, even when after the events of the night she can't say she's looking forward to seeing him anytime soon. Even when he's nice to look at.

And she eventually falls asleep.


End file.
